If it’s true that Donald Trump dreams of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, like his predecessor Barack Obama, the way he has just launched negotiations with Russian leader Vladimir Putin in an attempt to end the war in Ukraine is unlikely to help him get there. In the space of a telephone conversation on Wednesday, February 12, the US president rehabilitated a dictator wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court by treating him as an equal, even to the point of dangling the prospect of reciprocal official visits. The most charitable will put this down to a flattery maneuver designed to soften up an autocrat who is certainly not immune to such tactics.
More difficult to understand is the elimination from the outset, announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, of two a priori useful levers in this negotiation: Ukraine’s NATO membership and the restoration of all of the territory of this country attacked by Russia since 2014. The American power officially formalized, without even negotiating, the forcible modification of European borders, deemed inviolable under international law; and the conquest of 20% of Ukrainian territory by Russia.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has blithely trampled underfoot the same principles of international law, by setting his sights on Greenland, Canada and Panama, and by considering emptying the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population.
A European matter
Even more serious is the method with which he is approaching this peace process through dialogue with the aggressor, in the absence not only of the attacked country but also of those who support it and who will suffer the consequences. Clearly, these European allies will have to take responsibility for rebuilding Ukraine and implementing an agreement – to which they are not a party.
Like Russian predators in Africa, the Trump administration is pushing cynicism to the point of feeding on the beast by considering appropriating the rare earths available on Ukrainian soil as compensation for the money spent to help defend the country.
Simply informing President Volodymyr Zelensky of the progress of negotiations is not enough. Kyiv and its allies must continue to demand that no agreement should be negotiated without the genuine participation of Ukrainians.
As for Europeans, the arrogance and contempt shown toward them in recent days by the American president, Vice President JD Vance and Hegseth are a real humiliation. It shouldn’t come as any surprise: Since Trump’s first term in office, they’ve known where they stand. His more polite Democratic successor, Joe Biden, took a similar line. He wasn’t either in favor of integrating Ukraine into NATO. In denial, most Europeans have consistently postponed the difficult decisions required to take responsibility for their own defense. Today, they are paying for this lack of clarity and political courage.
Some of them, including France, have begun to get their act together and discuss the security guarantees they need to offer Ukraine. The challenge now is to step up to the plate and intensify this joint effort, so as to be able to exert pressure to become involved in the process. It’s Europe’s moment. Ukraine is, above all, a European matter. An unbalanced peace would only prolong the war and lead to Russia opening other fronts.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.